> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getnovaplan.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Budget Overview

> Your full P&L plan vs actuals, by department, account, entity, and period.

Budget Overview is the home of your plan: a hierarchical P\&L you can pivot by department, account, entity, and time, with budget, actuals, forecast, and variance side by side. It reads the GL universe, so it always reflects your latest headcount and revenue plans without a manual rebuild.

## How to Use It

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick a budget version">
    Everything you see is scoped to the selected version (its forecast window, assumptions, and derived GL). See [Core Concepts](/concepts) for what a version is.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose your view">
    Switch between budget, actuals, forecast, and variance. Actuals and forecast stitch together at the boundary month so you read one continuous picture.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pivot and group">
    Reshape the table by any dimension (department, account, entity, channel) or by period. Group-by and pivot controls work the same way they do across the platform.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Drill into a number">
    Click any cell to open its underlying transactions, with filter, sort, and export. The underlying rows union actuals and plan, with a Type pill showing where each row came from.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export">
    Export any view to Excel. Numeric columns export as typed numbers with format masks, so totals still sum and currency negatives render in parentheses.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What the Columns Mean

| Column            | What it means                                                          |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Budget**        | The planned amount for the account and period in the selected version  |
| **Actual**        | What actually posted to the GL for that account and period             |
| **Forecast**      | The engine's projection for forward (not-yet-closed) months            |
| **Variance (\$)** | Actual or forecast minus budget, in base currency                      |
| **Variance (%)**  | The same delta as a percentage of budget, with cost-direction coloring |

<Tip>
  Every amount is shown in base currency so figures across entities are summable. A column is shown in native currency only when it is explicitly labeled, so you never accidentally sum mixed currencies. See [Currency](/planning/currency).
</Tip>

## Where the Numbers Come From

Budget Overview reads the general ledger. Your [Headcount](/planning/headcount), [Revenue](/planning/revenue), and [Expense](/planning/expense) plans all derive into the GL automatically, tagged by source so you can always trace a line back. That is why a P\&L built here reflects the latest plan the moment you re-run a forecast, with no separate consolidation step.

## Common Questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why does the Budget column show zero for a row that has actuals?">
    The row exists in actuals but was never budgeted (a vendor or account that appeared mid-year). Add a plan line in the relevant planning module, or an allocation in [Budget Rules](/planning/budget-rules), and re-run the forecast so it shows up as budget.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I see the people or contracts behind a cost?">
    Yes. Drill any cell to the underlying rows. Headcount-derived cells trace to employees and open positions; revenue-derived cells trace to events and contracts; expense-derived cells trace to plan lines.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why is variance colored orange or red on some rows and blue on others?">
    Variance uses cost-direction coloring. Spending over budget reads warm (orange or red), coming in under budget reads cool (blue), so over-runs stand out without reading every number.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I compare two versions, not just plan vs actual?">
    Use the [Comparison Center](/reporting/comparison-center) to put any two versions or a scenario against the base, line by line.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## If the Numbers Look Off

* A roll-up total does not match the rows beneath it: confirm you are not mixing a native-currency column into a base-currency sum, and that the period range is the same on both.
* Recently changed a plan but the P\&L did not move: the GL is derived on forecast run. Re-run the forecast for that universe so the derive bridge re-posts.
* A locked version shows stale figures: that is by design. Locked versions are served from a frozen snapshot so historical comparisons never drift.